Volvo is introducing new engine technologies, known as VEA (Volvo Engine Architecture), which the company says will further lower consumption and emissions, and along with electric motor technology render large-capacity and V8 engines obsolete.
The first Volvo engine in a new breed of engines will be a four-cylinder diesel featuring an injection system dubbed i-ART.
The new injection technology adds a small computer on top of each of the four injectors, enabling pressure feedback from each that is then analysed and adjusts the fuel flow accordingly.
The combination of higher injector pressure and i-ART technology is claimed by Volvo to deliver engines with better fuel economy, lower emissions and higher performance compared with the current unit.
Volvo will use several ‘levels’ of turbocharging to provide different versions of the same engine, with more fuel efficient through to high output variations.
Volvo Car Group vice president of powertrain engineering, Derek Crabb, believes new engine technology will continue the trend towards downsized, smaller-capacity engines at an increasing rate, eventually signalling the end of the V8s.
“We will create smaller, more intelligent engines with so much power that they will turn V8s into dinosaurs,” he remarked.
“Our four-cylinder engines will offer higher performance than today’s six-cylinder units and lower fuel consumption than the current four-cylinder generation.
“On top of that, electrification will bring us up into power figures in today’s V8 territory.”
Volvo plans to introduce the new diesel common rail and petrol direct injection powertrains as standard equipment this September in Europe, in addition to a new eight-speed automatic transmission.
